Bloggers A-Buzz with Talk of FTC Guides

There’s been a lot of buzz, lately, over the FTC’s publication of “Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials.” I first learned of it on Jaypee Online. First, this is not a revision of existing law. There’s nothing particularly new, here, except that it clarifies the applicability of current law to new media and celebrity endorsements. Since the Guides haven’t been revised since 1980, it seems that in order to keep up with the Internet and the explosion of social media and “buzz marketing,” the FTC saw a need to clarify a few things. And I think, upon reflection, this is a good thing.

According to the revised FTC Guides, “the issue is whether the consumer-generated statement can be considered ‘sponsored.’ … Thus, a consumer who purchases a product with his or her own money and praises it on a personal blog or on an electronic message board will not be deemed to be providing an endorsement.”

I’m glad they spelled that out. It seems obvious that if I pay for a thing, and have no relationship with the manufacturer or sales rep other than that of “customer,” I should be free to gush about or to criticize that thing as I see fit. To say otherwise would infringe upon my First Amendment rights. Oddly, there’s a lot of discussion in the FTC Guides about comments claiming these new Guides will have a chilling effect on commercial speech. To that, I say “cry me a river.” I don’t think the First Amendment was designed to protect lies and hyperbole, and regulating commercial speech to ensure truthfulness is something I have absolutely no objections to.

“In contrast, postings by a blogger who is paid to speak about an advertiser’s product will be covered by the Guides, regardless of whether the blogger is paid directly by the marketer itself or by a third party on behalf of the marketer. [O]ther situations between these two ends of the spectrum will depend on the specific facts present…”

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